Hantavirus outbreak: WHO reassures public on low risk

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that the risk posed by hantavirus to the general public remains minimal, even as several countries prepare to repatriate passengers from a cruise ship affected by a deadly outbreak, News.Az reports, citing AFP.

Three passengers aboard the MV Hondius — a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman — have died, while others have fallen ill with the rare disease, which is typically transmitted through rodents.

Concerns increased after authorities confirmed that the Andes virus, the only hantavirus strain known to spread between humans, had been detected among positive cases.

The Dutch-flagged vessel, carrying around 150 people, is expected to reach the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife on Sunday. From there, special flights will transport passengers back to their home countries.

WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier emphasized that the public health risk remains very low.

“This is a dangerous virus, but only to the person who's really infected, and the risk to the general population remains absolutely low,” he said.

He also noted that early observations from the outbreak suggested limited transmission even among close contacts.

“Even those who have been sharing cabins don't seem to be both infected in some cases, when one has fallen sick,” Lindmeier said. “That shows you again, luckily, apparently, the virus is not that contagious that it easily jumps from person to person.”

The WHO reported five confirmed and three suspected cases aboard the vessel, adding that no new suspected cases had been identified at the time of the statement. An updated assessment was expected later on Friday.

Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said 30 passengers, including the first victim, disembarked at the remote British territory of Saint Helena on April 24. The following day, a flight carried them to Johannesburg, triggering extensive contact tracing across multiple countries.

A separate case involved a flight attendant working for Dutch airline KLM who had contact with an infected passenger from the cruise. The attendant later developed mild symptoms but tested negative for hantavirus, according to the WHO.

The infected passenger — the wife of the first confirmed fatality — had briefly been on a Johannesburg-to-Netherlands flight on April 25 but was removed before departure. She later died in a hospital in Johannesburg.

Lindmeier described the negative test result for the flight attendant as encouraging, noting it suggested exposure does not necessarily lead to infection.

“It’s not spreading anything close to how Covid was spreading,” he added.

Separately, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had been briefed on the situation, commenting: “It’s very much, we hope, under control.”

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev